Museum of the Bible opens doors in D.C.WASHINGTON -- Eight years ago, Hobby Lobby president Steve Green found a new way to express his Christian faith. His family's $4 billion arts and craft chain was already known for closing stores on Sundays, waging a Supreme Court fight over birth control and donating tens of millions of dollars to religious groups. Now, Green would begin collecting biblical artifacts that he hoped could become the starting point for a museum. On Friday, that v...

Shopping inside stores still mattersIt surprises most millennials to learn that only about 10 percent of all retail purchases are actually made online. But this holiday shopping season, as ever in the past, the overwhelming majority of purchases will still happen within four physical walls of a store. This should encourage the thousands of retailers anchored in strip malls, lifestyle centers and mixed use developments. The National Retail Federation expects holiday retail sales ...

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By Kelli Hollinger
The ConversationThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

New accusations against Rose emergeNEW YORK -- The morning show where Charlie Rose worked until being fired Tuesday is reporting that two women at CBS News claim that Rose grabbed them inappropriately, with one saying he also whispered a sexual innuendo. The accusations came to light after CBS News President David Rhodes fired the host on Tuesday for what he called "extremely disturbing and intolerable behavior" by Rose toward women at his PBS talk show. PBS has also cut ties t...

Officer wounded during fatal shooting released from hospitalBATESVILLE— An Arkansas police officer who was wounded in a shooting that left a man dead earlier this month has been released from a hospital. KAIT-TV reports that Batesville Officer Michael Dickinson was released Wednesday after being wounded in the Nov. 3 shooting that left 44-year-old Marvin Stair dead. Details of Dickinson's injuries haven't been released, but Police Chief Alan Cockrell said he faces a lengthy recovery and it isn't known ...

Arkansas panel to review new base for Commandments monumentLITTLE ROCK— A subcommittee of the Arts and Grounds Commission at the Arkansas state Capitol will meet next month to review new plans for a Ten Commandments monument. The previous set of commandments was knocked over less than 24 hours after it went up in June. At the open meeting, the panel will review changes proposed for the monument's base. If the changes are approved, a public hearing would follow at a later date. A judge last week found ...

Obituary: Wilburn NewbyWilburn “W.L.” Newby, age 100, died Monday, Nov. 20, 2017, at Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Russellville. Visitation with the family will be held from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 27, in the Humphrey Funeral Home chapel. A graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at Price Cemetery in London under the direction of Humphrey Funeral Service. A full obituary will be published later at a later date in The Courier.

Johnny Cash boyhood home considered for historic nominationLITTLE ROCK — The boyhood home of country music icon Johnny Cash is being considered as a nominee for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program's review board is to meet Wednesday to consider 14 state properties for nomination to the list of the nation's historic places, including the Cash home that was built in 1934 in Dyess in northeastern Arkansas, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northw...

Obituary: Bobby D. HubbardBobby D. Hubbard died on Aug. 29, 2017. He was born on Feb. 20, 1940. A public family hosted memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 25 at the City Cemetery in Atkins.

Obituary: Johnnie BaileyATKINS — Johnnie R. Bailey, 77, of Pottsville, passed away Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017, at Legacy Heights Nursing in Russellville. She was born Sept. 4, 1940, in Sulfur Rock, daughter of the late Joe and Hazel Green Sanders. She loved her kids and grandkids and was known as ‘grandma to all.’ She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Elliot Bailey and a son, Gary Dean Bailey. She is survived by a son, Cavin Derrick Bailey and wife Dannielle...

Obituary: Duane NoyesDuane Kenneth Noyes, age 68, of Russellville, went home to be with The Lord Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017, at Arkansas Hospice River Valley Home. He was born Dec. 12, 1948, in Victoria BC, Canada, to Floyd Worthington and Violette Kirby Brown Noyes. He was a member of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church. He was employed at Dow Chemical for 11 years. He was a former owner and operator of Mid City Quick Lube and Car Wash, D and S Auto Mats and Superfast...

Obituary: Trisha HodgePatricia “Trisha” Marie Hodge, age 62, of Russellville, died Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017, at Arkansas Hospice River Valley Home in Russellville. She was born May 9, 1955, at Merced, Calif., to the late Hiram and Vera Corley Hodge. She loved her family and most of all her grandkids. She was preceded in death by her parents; one granddaughter, Billie Jean Reynolds and one brother, Eddie Hodge. Survivors include her husband, Calvin Horton of Russellvi...

RHS' Foy named Region 4 Choir Director of the YearMatthew Foy, the Russellville High School choir teacher, was announced Nov. 4 as the Region 4 Choir Director of the Year by the Arkansas Choral Directors Association during the All-Region Clinic. “[I was] surprised,” Foy said of receiving the award. “It’s an award where the directors of the region vote on who to give the award to. It’s an honor to be recognized by the directors of my region, my peers. It really is an honor.” Because Foy was se...

Reasons to shop locally Black FridayOn your marks â Ś get set â Ś SHOP LOCAL. Unless you're stuffed too full of turkey to think, many downtown and local businesses will offer some impressive discounts and deals not only on Black Friday, but also Small Business Saturday. With Black Friday having stretched into a November full of deals, stores will be stepping it up as holiday shopping begins in earnest. Nathan George at Joshua's Fine Jewelry at 310 W. Main St. will provide a Blac...

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BY SEAN INGRAM
sean@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Aldermen OK permit hikeThe Russellville City Council approved during its November regular meeting an ordinance that will establish a permitting process and fee for private clubs for the sale and dispensing of alcoholic beverages. The ordinance also allowed the city to increase its permit fees and will levy a tax and supplemental tax on gross proceeds and receipts from charges to members for the preparation and serving of mixed drinks or cooling and serving beer and ...

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BY SEAN INGRAM
sean@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Olympic gymnastics ex-doctor pleads guilty to sex chargesLANSING, Mich. — A former doctor accused of molesting girls while working for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University pleaded guilty Wednesday to multiple charges of sexual assault and will face at least 25 years in prison. Larry Nassar, 54, admitted to abusing seven girls, mostly under the guise of treatment at his Lansing-area home and a campus clinic. All but one of his accusers was a gymnast. He faces similar charges in a neighboring ...

Small retailers aim for emotional ties big chains may lackNEW YORK — Some smaller retailers will tug at shoppers' heartstrings during the holidays, trying to create an emotional experience or connection that a big national chain might not provide. Store owners are going well beyond the usual holiday decorations and music. Among their plans: Parties where the focus is fundraising rather than profits, events with other stores to encourage shoppers to visit them all, and personal services like merchandi...

Teen idol David Cassidy, 'Partridge Family' star, dies at 67NEW YORK — David Cassidy, the teen and pre-teen idol who starred in the 1970s sitcom "The Partridge Family" and sold millions of records as the musical group's lead singer, died Tuesday at age 67. Cassidy, who announced earlier this year that he had been diagnosed with dementia, died surrounded by his family, a family statement released by publicist JoAnn Geffen said. No further details were immediately available, but Geffen said on Saturday t...

Whatta-Burger to celebrate big 50th birthdayNope, there is nothing wrong with eating a cheeseburger on Thanksgiving Day. That's what Robert "Bob" Feltner thought half a century ago when he opened Whatta-Burger at the corner of what is now North Arkansas Avenue and O Street. Back on Nov. 23, 1967, it was a dirt road. And on Thanksgiving Day 2017, Whatta-Burger fans from all over can help four generations of the Feltner family celebrate. "'I'm going to put a burger place right here,'" Mis...

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BY SEAN INGRAM
sean@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley